


Too far, too close

by Winnetou



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Loki Needs a Hug, M/M, Romance, Sexual Content, Thorki - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 17:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16622858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winnetou/pseuds/Winnetou
Summary: Hela was defeated, and Ragnarok did not happen. Thor became the king, and his first royal decision will be a sentence passed on his brother.





	Too far, too close

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Zbyt daleki, zbyt bliski](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12916614) by [Winnetou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winnetou/pseuds/Winnetou). 



Asgard had a new king. After they defeated Hela, no one doubted that Thor Odinson deserved the title. Even Thor himself acknowledged this fact and accepted the crown he owed him for a long time. He now sat on the throne occupied by his father for so long and vetted the room with his healthy eye. He reminded Odin so much at this moment that Loki laughed, though his situation was not very favourable. One of his guards looked at him crookedly, but said nothing. Loki stepped from foot to foot and the cuffs on his wrists and feet rattled. Yeah, definitely should not make him laugh. 

The whole royal council and all the more important dignitaries gathered in the throne room. Nobody wanted to miss the spectacle, which was to be the judgment of a despicable son and traitor, for whom all of them considered Loki. Loki himself admitted with some astonishment that he did not care. After everything that happened recently, after the heroic defence of Asgard and the bloody battle with their sister, he only wanted a peace. The exile did not sound the worst.

The noise in the hall died down when the prosecutor rose. He began with a lengthy and inspired introduction about courage and loyalty. Loki listened with moderate interest. He watched Thor, who was listening to the accuser with a stone face. He had to admit that his brother had changed beyond recognition. He was no longer a jovial bully who spent days drinking beer with friends and seeking opportunities to fight. Now his gaze was hard, his face grim. His short-cut hair gave him seriousness. Not once did he look at Loki, who felt a strange disappointment about it. Formerly, Thor probably would have protected him from everyone, or at least tried to comfort him with a smile. Now, as a ruler, he was haughty and silent.

In the meantime, the accuser finished his speech and got to the point.

"Today, before this respectable assembly, Loki Laufeyson is to be tried for his crimes..."  
"Odinson."

The prosecutor fell silent and looked with surprise at the king who spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting.

"Lord, you know best that Loki... " the man began uncertainly, but he was not able to finish.  
"Loki was and still is my brother," Thor said, his voice calm but hard. "Our father never renounced him and I see no reason for you to do it instead of him. "

There was a murmur in the room, and the accuser looked uncertainly at his neighbours. Thor paid no attention to it, as did Loki's piercing gaze. He stared at a distant point with furrowed eyebrows. The prosecutor made the speech and no one interrupted him, but Loki did not listen to him at all. Thor's voice rattled across his head: _Loki was and is my brother..._

The hearing was prolonged. Many people were questioned, most of whom were against the accused. Amazingly, there were also a few who defended him. After all, it was impossible to ignore the fact that he participated in the recent events and the merits he gave to Asgard. Thor did not speak until the end, when the prosecutor asked him to deliver his sentence. He thought for a long time until he finally made his decision.

"After hearing those who could contribute something to this matter, there was one more thing left," he threw at Loki the piercingly blue look of his only eye. "Do you want to say something in your defence Loki, son of Odin?"

Loki was startled by the fact that he was given the opportunity to defend himself. In total, he did not know what to say.

"You know best what and for what reasons I did. My last deeds will not fix the wrongs of the past and will not change what has already happened, although I would like it to be different. I'm giving in to your justice, my lord. "

This time it was Thor who shuddered slightly hearing this title from his brother's lips, but he did not say anything but pondered again.

"I have decided," he said finally, "that Loki Odinson will stay in Asgard to use his power and knowledge to redeem part of his wines. However, he will not be able to leave the palace and his powers will be limited." He looked at Loki and asked: "Do you accept your sentence? "

Loki knew he could not reject it, but he still could not believe he was not banished or locked up in the deepest dungeon.

"I accept and give in," he bowed his head humbly.

Thor hit the floor with a Gungnir and rose to leave the throne room. Some of the gathered looked as if they wanted to protest against the verdict, but no one dared to oppose the king. He passed Loki and his guards, who promptly followed him into the side chamber. After a moment one of the magicians appeared in it. Loki winced – he never gave them much respect, because at least he was the most powerful sorcerer in the land. Unfortunately, Thor was never good at magic, so he had to accept the fact that someone else would put a sealing spell on him. The guards took his shackles and stepped back to the wall.

"Take off your tunic," said Thor.

Loki raised his eyebrows in surprise, but obediently pulled off his clothes. Thor gave him a look that gave him the creeps, which had little to do with his current situation, and then put his hand on his chest. This surprised Loki, who inhaled loudly. He could have been a master of self-control, but he knew Thor must feel the mad gallop of his heart and he only hoped he would think it was because of nerves. The mage stood next to the king and laid his hand on the weather-beaten hand of the ruler. The blond began to recite the formula and Loki guessed that the magician was directing his brother's power, using it to cast a spell. After a while, small flashes of lightning appeared around his hand that spread across Loki's chest and arms, leaving stinging red marks on them – visible signs of the spell binding him.

Thor sent back everyone, even the guards, with a wave of his hand. Loki dressed without looking at him. He wondered why he wanted to be alone with him.

"How you feel?" Thor asked when the door closed behind the last person.  
"I've had worse," said Loki. "It is only a little... uncomfortable," he moved his arms because he really had the impression that the clothes were lying badly. He hoped that he would get used to it over time.  
"As for your punishment, I have not told you everything yet. "

Taken by surprise, Loki finally looked at his brother.

"It means? "  
"It means, I'm going to make sure that you actually contribute to Asgard, instead of closing in your chambers, which you probably are planning."

Trickster cursed softly under his breath, because he was exactly going to do it.

"So what do you expect from me? "  
"I want you to accompany me at council meetings, audiences and during visits," Thor said, looking at him intently. "I want you to see what I cannot see and hear what I will not hear. "  
"So you want me to be your trusted adviser?" Loki stared at him and, having obtained a confirming nod, laughed. "Nobody will agree!"  
"They will not have much to say," the blond just shrugged. "You are still the prince and, so far, the heir to the throne, so they cannot take you away from court politics. "  
"The royal council will get mad!"  
"Exactly."

Loki stared in disbelief at Thor, who was grinning at him now. Something ring a bell.

"You do it especially, right? To piss them off. "  
"In a way," the young ruler admitted, "but that's not the only reason," he came quite close to Loki. "You were always more suited to the king than me. All these intrigues – you took off with it like a duck to water.... "  
"Thanks a lot…"  
" ... and I've never had the talent for diplomacy... "  
"Well, unless it was about force arguments. "  
"Exactly. I need you. "  
"But why me? "  
"Because only you will not be afraid to tell me openly what you think. Besides, I trust you the most. "

Loki wondered if Thor was aware of how effective such words were to him, supported by a warm smile, for which – it's terrible! – he was beginning to miss.

"Your ministers will get mad as soon as they see me," he sighed with resignation.  
"I cannot wait," Thor replied with a wide smile.

***  
Time passed, and Loki was used to new duties. Of course, as he predicted, it was not without protests that Thor firmly and ruthlessly silenced in the bud. From then on, he was constantly circling near the ruler. Although he could not take an active part in official meetings, he was always somewhere to the side, listening and watching, but not commenting. Sometimes he gave Thor discrete signs if he noticed something really disturbing. Later, when they had the opportunity to talk in private, he openly shared his insights. At less official meetings, he sometimes spoke, but he tried not to upset the Asgardian politicians who gritted their teeth with powerlessness. Thor once explained to his brother why.

"You see, I used to think they were kind of nice people," he told Loki during a supper, "but later I realized that all that fawning on me aimed to take control over me when I already will be king. They probably thought that I would be so lost and terrified by the perspective of power that I would listen to them without blinking. I really do not know how father endured them for so many years. "

During the audiences he stood next to the throne and sometimes whispered advice or remarks in Thor's ear. During these meetings, various dignitaries often tried to give their daughters to the young king – everyone hoped that they would marry into a royal family. Loki tried to be patient and objective at the time, though he probably did not always succeed.

"Are you all right, Loki?" Thor asked once, when a kind of I-had-things-to-do-at-court-and-my-adolescent-daughter-wanted-to-see-the-capital-parade has just ended. Trickster blinked several times, out of his reverie.  
"Yes. The latter was quite good," he said, although he did not think so. "Though she's nowhere near being Jane Foster."  
"I thought you did not like her," said Thor. He rose from the throne and headed for the exit.  
"I liked her. Somehow," Loki admitted equating to his brother. "She slapped me and said it was for New York. You must have courage for this. And she was quite intelligent."

Thor did not comment, and Loki was grateful for that. The truth was, when the girls flirting and batting their eyes at the ruler, he remembered a certain evening many years ago. At that time, a great feast was issued on the occasion of Thor's attainment of a male age. Loki quickly got bored and slipped quietly, shortening his way through the gardens. He was passing by a cluster of bushes when he saw Thor kissing one of their mother's servant-maid. He froze, but then escaped from there before any of them noticed him. He did not remember how he reached his chamber. He could not fall asleep for a long time, but when he finally did, he dreamed that under this tree Thor embraces him.

Now, every time when Thor asked him what he thought about any girl, it was on the tip of Loki's tongue, that there is already someone who would not only be willing to give him a successor and stay with him, but would love him not for being king and god, but simply being Thor himself.

***

The evening, which came after a long and sunny day, smelled of resin and hot stone. The windows in the royal chambers were open wide and the light wind moved the curtains, bringing waves of fragrant air. Thor and Loki sat at a large table, which was piled with piles of parchment. The king was reading a list of people proposed for nominations and promotions, and Trickster was breaking through the preliminary text of the new decree. They spent most of the afternoon reading more and more new documents and they were already fed up with it. When they were little, they did not imagine reigning in such a way, but adulthood has it, that brutally verifies many children's fantasies.

Loki rubbed his tired eyes and straightened his hunched back. He decided that it's enough of those torments, no matter how important and official these documents were. He picked up the papers from the table and walked to the couch under the window. He threw a pillow on the floor, sat on it, and laid the documents next to it. He leaned back against the couch, stretching his legs out. Thor watched him with astonishment for a moment, as if he had only just realized that he could have thought about it. He took his parchments and stretched out on the couch, stuffing the remaining pillows under his head. They read in silence, occasionally making notes and remarks.

Loki, absorbed in reading, only after a while felt that something is tickling his neck. He froze when he realized that it was Thor playing with his hair, though apparently he did it automatically and unconsciously. He wrapped the strands around his fingers, occasionally brushing Loki's neck. Rough, warm hands teased his skin, though it was only a gentle touch. Each time he felt a shiver running down his spine and goose bumps lifting the hairs on his forearms. He was afraid to move so as not to scare the moment away.

Thor, meanwhile, slipped hand into his hair, gently scratching behind his ear, as if Loki was a big tomcat. Trickster, with a trembling sigh, closed his eyes, because he would not be able to concentrate any more. His brother's hand moved over his neck, tickling it, then returning to comb his hair. It was so amazingly good for him that he did not even realize when his mind gave him the vision of the same hands wandering around his chest and stomach, stroking his hips and his back slowly, with tenderness. And he would kiss him with hot lips, and he would whisper into his ear that he...

When Loki realized what was happening, he jumped to his feet. Terrified, he looked at Thor, who gave him a surprised look. Before the blond could do or say anything, the Trickster disappeared. Apparently the emotions were so strong that they managed to temporarily break the spell.

Thor swore and jumped off the couch. He was not sure what had just happened. He came out of the room, ignoring the shouts of the guards. Loki's rooms were right next to his; he ran to them without knocking, but he noticed immediately that they were empty. Where can Loki be? Once, when something upset him, he always looked for loneliness. Most often, he escaped to the top of a cliff along the edge of the land. He liked high places. Thor turned around and ran toward the highest castle tower, shouting to the guards to stay in place.

He ran and thoughts circled in his head. He was aware that he had done something that caused his brother to react so violently, but he did not know what. Loki had been around somewhere recently, but he himself had imposed it on him. Sometimes, though, he caught furtive glances, but nothing else. Maybe he should not touch his hair, though?

He ran up the stairs, jumping three steps at a time. He slowed only at the top and carefully pushed the door. Loki stood by the battlements, his back to him, resting heavily on his hands. Even from here Thor could see his shoulders trembling. He walked silently to his brother.

"Loki, what's wrong with you?"

Loki turned abruptly. He looked like an animal backed into a corner by a pack of dogs. He stared at Thor with eyes wide open and did not quite manage to mask the tears that accumulated in them. Thor was not sure what to do.

"I need to check if the spell was broken," he said, just to say something, and carefully reached for him.  
"Don't touch me!" Loki shouted and cling harder to the wall, as if he wanted to blend in with it.  
"Brother, what...?"  
"We are not brothers! We are not! We cannot-- !"

Now Thor's eyes were wide open in surprise. It seemed to him that everything was all right between them, but apparently he was wrong. He grabbed Loki by the arms, and he tried to break free, but he could not. Disregarding the protests, Thor pulled him to his chest and hugged him tightly. Only now did he realize how much his brother was shaking. He held him firmly with one hand, the other reassuringly stroking his black hair. Loki slowly calmed down.

"Did I do something wrong?" Thor asked after a moment. "If so, I'm sorry, I did not want to, but tell me what it was that I would not repeat it. "

Loki hid his face in the robe on Thor's chest. He could not look at him, he did not have enough courage. He hated himself for losing control over himself. He could not think of a lie that would explain his behaviour, and he was not ready to tell the truth. And probably never will be again.

"Tell me what happened. I want to know. "  
"Believe me you don’t want to. "

Thor gently moved Loki away from him and took his face in his hands. He stared into the green eyes, as if he could find all the answers there.

"I want to know," he repeated. "I lost you once because of my ignorance. I will not let it happen again. "  
"If I tell you, you can also lose me. Trust me, you do not want this truth. "  
"And what do you want? "

Loki tightened his eyelids, feeling that his eyes were pinching again, but still two drops rolled down his cheeks. He took a shuddering breath and decided to throw himself into the abyss.

"I want you."

He felt Thor's hands twitch on his cheeks, but before any of them could speak on the stairs they heard voices and patter of shoes. Apparently, the guards preferred to make sure that their king was all right.

"Come on," Thor said, grabbing his hand. "And do not even try to run away."

He dragged him to the stairs with him, but he let go when soldiers came around the bend.

"Nothing happened. Come back to your places," he interrupted their anxious questions.

They walked the corridors quickly. Loki did not try to escape because he knew Thor would find him anyway. Strong emotions allowed him to weaken the curse, but not for long.

Thor almost forcefully pushed him into his chamber and slammed the door, shouting that no one had the right to disturb him. Loki stood in the middle of the room, wondering what would happen now. His brother stood with his hand resting on the door, as if he was building up the courage, then turned away. He did not say anything but just stepped up to him. Loki did not retreat – it was definitely too late to run away. It was much worse than waiting for a sentence. The blond again took his face in his hands, so that he could not look away, so he only had to close his eyes. So he closed and waited, and he felt his heart go right through his feet.

Thor kissed him. Strongly, firmly, unambiguously. Taken aback, Loki choked with air and opened his eyes.

"Why?" He panted when Thor moved away.  
"I wanted to know. You told me. And I made a decision. "

Loki could not believe it was really happening. Such things happened only in fairy tales. Hesitantly he touched his brother's face.

"Will not you chase me away? "  
"I've said I do not want to lose you again, so how could I chase you away? And now I can have you all. "

Trickster shuddered at the words, but before he could say anything, Thor took him in his arms and carried him over to his bed. He put him on it and kissed him again, gentler this time, as if asking for permission to go further. In answer Loki parted his lips, inviting him. They kissed long and slowly, and their clothes landed on the floor. Every single piece of Loki's skin Thor was kissing and scratching with his beard, but it only aroused greater lust. All illusions which Loki deceived oneself were nothing compared to real, warm and rough hands sliding across his ribs, hips, and thighs. He writhed under that touch, bent his back in a bow, moaned and begged for more.

Thor kissed his neck, sucked and gnawed the delicate skin on his collarbones, tearing cries of pain from Loki. He left a wet path as he descended lower and lower. Finally, he took Loki's hard penis in his hand and began to stroke it. Trickster bit his lip almost to the blood. The blond leaned over him and began laying small kisses on his jaw and neck. He put his fingers into him and felt the hot interior clench on them. He moved slowly, wanting to get to know Loki's body, his every reaction so that he could adjust to it.

"Please... oh, please..." Loki gasped in a rushing voice. "I want you. I need you…"  
"I do not want to hurt you. "  
"You will never hurt me, my King. My ruler. "

When Thor entered him, Loki arched his back and leaned his hips on him. He seized the sheets with nervous motions, almost tearing them apart. They were panting in their mouths in chaotic, greedy kisses.

" …I love you…"  
"…more…!"  
"I love you."

Loki cried out and tightly wrapped his legs around Thor, pulling him closer. He clenched his hands on the bedclothes, and under his eyelids it turned white. He heard Thor's heavy breath close to his ear, and after a moment he felt a rough cheek on his chest when his brother fell on him.

The silence was disturbed only by uneven breaths when their bodies cooled in the tangled bedding. Finally, Thor rolled to one side and laid down next to Loki. They looked at each other, as if they were only aware of what had happened between them.

"You know, when I first realized what I really felt about you, I was terrified," Loki said in a whisper. "It was a long time ago. Since then I have strangled it in myself, believing that such a feeling should not exist at all. And later it turned out that, however, we are not brothers. That if Odin did not take me in, I could love you without hindrance... "  
"If he did not take you in, we would never meet," Thor corrected him. "You would never love me then. "

He reached out and put a strand of black hair behind his ear. Loki covered his hand with his own hand and nestled into it. Unexpectedly, tears flowed down his cheeks before he could stop them. Thor only smiled and pulled him to his broad chest. Loki nestled into him, embracing his waist and interlacing their legs. The blond threw blankets on them.

"How do you want to keep it secret?" Loki asked uncertainly.  
"Who said I want to?" Thor was surprised.  
"Your ministers will get mad. "  
"Go ahead, I do not care. "  
"They'll demand that I disappear. "  
"They do not dare. "  
"Why? "  
"Because you are the prince of Asgard. The royal favourite. Because I love you. "  
"Can you repeat? The last one? "  
"I love you. "  
"And again? "  
"I love you. I love you. I love you. Enough? "  
"No. For me, there will never be enough of you. "  
"So I always have to be close. "


End file.
